Portland Bill and Chesil Beach are the graveyards of many vessels that failed to
reach Weymouth or Portland Roads. The Portland Race is caused by the meeting of
the tides between the Bill and the Shambles sandbank about 3 miles SE. Strong
currents break the sea so fiercely that from the shore a continuous disturbance
can be seen. Portland Bill Lighthouse guides vessels heading for Portland and
Weymouth through these hazardous waters as well as acting as a waymark for ships
navigating the English Channel. The Shambles sandbank is marked by a red sector
light.

As early as 1669 Sir John Clayton was granted a patent to erect a lighthouse,
but his scheme fell through and it was not until early in the eighteenth century
that Captain William Holman, supported by the shipowners and Corporation of
Weymouth, put a petition to Trinity House for the building of a lighthouse at
Portland Bill. Trinity House opposed it suggesting that lights at this point
were needless and shipowners could not bear the burden of their upkeep. The
people of Weymouth continued their petition and on 26th May, 1716 Trinity House
obtained a patent from George I. They in turn issued a lease for 61 years to a
private consortium who built two lighthouses with enclosed lanterns and coal
fires. The lights were badly kept, sometimes not lit at all, and in 1752 an
inspection was made by two members of the Board of Trinity House who approached
by sea to find "it was nigh two hours after sunset before any light
appeared in either of the lighthouses". With the termination of the lease
the lights reverted to Trinity House. In 1789 William Johns, a builder of
Weymouth under contract to Trinity House, took down one of the towers and
erected a new one at a cost of £2,000. It was sited so that it served as a mark
by day or night to direct ships moving up and down Channel or into Portland
Roads clear of the Race and Shambles. Over the doorway on a marble tablet was
the following inscription:-

Portland Bill and Chesil Beach are the graveyards of many vessels that failed to
reach Weymouth or Portland Roads. The Portland Race is caused by the meeting of
the tides between the Bill and the Shambles sandbank about 3 miles SE. Strong
currents break the sea so fiercely that from the shore a continuous disturbance
can be seen. Portland Bill Lighthouse guides vessels heading for Portland and
Weymouth through these hazardous waters as well as acting as a waymark for ships
navigating the English Channel. The Shambles sandbank is marked by a red sector
light.

As early as 1669 Sir John Clayton was granted a patent to erect a lighthouse,
but his scheme fell through and it was not until early in the eighteenth century
that Captain William Holman, supported by the shipowners and Corporation of
Weymouth, put a petition to Trinity House for the building of a lighthouse at
Portland Bill. Trinity House opposed it suggesting that lights at this point
were needless and shipowners could not bear the burden of their upkeep. The
people of Weymouth continued their petition and on 26th May, 1716 Trinity House
obtained a patent from George I. They in turn issued a lease for 61 years to a
private consortium who built two lighthouses with enclosed lanterns and coal
fires. The lights were badly kept, sometimes not lit at all, and in 1752 an
inspection was made by two members of the Board of Trinity House who approached
by sea to find "it was nigh two hours after sunset before any light
appeared in either of the lighthouses". With the termination of the lease
the lights reverted to Trinity House. In 1789 William Johns, a builder of
Weymouth under contract to Trinity House, took down one of the towers and
erected a new one at a cost of £2,000. It was sited so that it served as a mark
by day or night to direct ships moving up and down Channel or into Portland
Roads clear of the Race and Shambles. Over the doorway on a marble tablet was
the following inscription:-

Anno 1789.
In August 1788 Argand lamps were installed, Portland being the first lighthouse
in England to be fitted with them. In the upper or old house there were two
rows, seven in each row, lighted with oil and furnished with highly-polished
reflectors. Low light tests were made by Thomas Rogers with his new lens light,
and six Argand lamps were installed, their lights increased by lenses.

In 1798, when Napoleon threatened invasion, two 18lb cannons were installed at
the lighthouse.

A 7 metre tall white stone obelisk was built in 1844 at the Southern tip of
Portland Bill as a warning of a low shelf of rock extending 30 metres South into
the sea, which still stands near the current lighthouse.

New high and low lighthouses were built in 1869, but early this century Trinity
House announced its intention of replacing them with a single tower - the
present lighthouse. The old towers can still be seen from the outside - the low
light, which is now a bird observatory and field centre, has retained its
original appearance but the high light lantern has been removed.

The present optic at Portland Bill is very unusual as due to the arrangement of
the panels the character gradually changes from one flash to four flashes
between the bearings 221°and 224° and from four flashes to one flash between
bearings 117° and 141°.

Portland Bill Lighthouse was demanned on 18th March 1996 when monitoring and
control of the station was transferred to the Trinity House Operations Control
Centre at Harwich.